13 February 2008

Apology

We went to Fed Square this morning to watch the apology. The place was packed, and we only just managed a spot where we could see the big screen. This is what we saw:

I'd heard that the wording of the apology had been published and that it was succinct, and so I was expecting that everyone would gather for a few minutes, hear it, and head off.

Everyone stayed for a full hour. Rudd followed the apology itself with an excellent speech. There were several bursts of applause and celebration, and there was a real sense that this was an important occasion. The crowd assembled was unanimously respectful and supportive.

Nelson's response was less impressive, but I won't dwell on that. I still left feeling that something significant has actually taken place. A little taste of justice and dignity.

1 comment:

Your thoughts on Brendan Nelson's response would be very interesting to hear... don't skip that! ... you didn't agree with him or thought his speech was not so well constructed?

For mine I thought Nelson's speech was very well put, circumspect and respectful to all Australians. The closed minded back-turning by some of the crowd was embarrassing and representative of why many of these problems endure.